Staying Positive!

Adoremouse

killerpeaty wrote: »

I concur entirely! Well done Adoremouse!

RE: inheritance, I know a few people (I'm 22 with friends roughly of the same age) who have been expecting money from inheritance, loans to be given back (by their own useless father /cough), etc and have not seen any of the money. So I say, don't spend it yet! It'll be a nice "surprise" when it comes ^^

When my dad died I knew I wouldn't get any inheritance due to his business debts (they were completely manageable as his business was strong) but hey we still have the house. Got to be happy about that!

Red lentil soup sounds lovely : ) And when I have pizza I have mini ones and cut myself tiny tiny slices. I'm so cool. :cool:

Haha! Made me chuckle :rotfl:

Hiddenidenity

Adoremouse wrote: »

Haha! Made me chuckle :rotfl:

Me too :rotfl::rotfl:

Adoremouse

Hello folks, how is everyone?

Well today I had a very fussy little boy who is going to have some peggies very soon I think! Constant booby action, and lots of dribbling!

Couldn't get much done apart from lots of organising, have sent off for forms to book a hall for DD's bday party. Have also booked myself in for a flu jab, and have started looking into the cost of the bouncy castle that DD has her heart set on for her party :eek:

I am going to have to do some serious Ebaying to pay for this, but I'm sure it's do-able.

Had our potatoes and beans meal tonight and I have to say it was really nice! And can I just let you all know how amazing my hubby is? I had to lie down with DS and breastfeed him to settle him down...I then promptly fell asleep! Hubby tidied DD's entire bedroom (it was trashed!), put her to bed, made dinner, ironed DD's uniform and did some DIY jobs, then woke me up to eat! How amazing is he! :smileyhea:happylove:happyhear

He roasted the potatoes and we dipped them in some houmous that needed using up (don't knock it until you've tried it!) and had beans with it...interesting combo but very tasty and very MSE!

Tomorrow I need to make the red lentil soup for when my friend comes over on Weds, also need to do a bit of cleaning, but DH doing DD's room has really helped!

I will not be having a NSD tomorrow as I have to pay for my flu jab, and also need to get some bits in...not a full weekly shop thank goodness, but we are very mother hubbardy at the mo!

Adoremouse

I have been a busy bee today! DS would not nap though And the two or three times where he did go off he was woken by the phone/door/DD :mad:

However I've managed to find a bargain bouncy castle! The going rate is £85 :eek: but I decided to ask the person in charge of the Hall we've booked whether she has any recommendations and she did...and as we were recommended via the Hall, we got a discount so it's 'only' going to cost £55!

It's still a lot, but it's a great one with a slide and it looks like a princess castle, so worth it. I will have to get selling on Ebay pretty sharpish!

I have also talked a friend's 18 year old daughter into dressing up as a Disney princess as a surprise for DD, she is very pretty, so I think DD will think she is the real princess!

We had to give in and do some grocery shopping today to last the rest of the week as we were running low on a few bits, but we kept it under £30...I have moved my flu jab to next week as I am feeling a bit under the weather today.

I sat down today and worked out lots of different scenarios for me going back to work. I have requested reduced hours, but am also considering handing in my notice and going freelance. I worked out all the tax implications, how much childcare would be etc etc, and it works out that freelancing works out by far the most profitable and DS doesn't need to go into childcare when he reaches 10 months old :j:j:j

However, freelance work is not secure obviously, so I will need to make sure that we have a nice buffer in place.

My friend has cancelled on me tomorrow, so I'm going to use the day wisely to do some more de-cluttering and getting things put aside to sell! Then at the weekend, hubby and I can have a marathon listing session. Shame we missed the free listings last weekend though...life is so busy at the moment!

I'm sure that I had lots more to report but can't remember now! I will probably end up doing my usual double post :rotfl:

Oh, we had a very frugal dinner tonight, as by the time DH had got home from the supermarket and we'd faffed about it was almost 10pm :eek: So he had eggs on toast, and I had super noodles...not the best meal but at least we didn't say sod it, let's get a take away like we would have a while back!

Hope everyone is ok, how are plans going for Christmas?

Adoremouse

Hello diary

An early post from me today!

I think I really need to get onto the old style board whatever that is, and find some of the batch cooking recipes. We've been trying really hard to cut down on our grocery spending, but this means that we are eating a very carby diet, with hardly any meat.

We are not complete carnivores, but we do like chicken, fish and beef every now and then.

Last night hubby managed to pick up some reduced free range chicken breasts which is a rare treat! I won't eat a battery hen, no matter how poor we are...I would rather go without.

Lately we've been getting a whole chicken now and then, because it's much cheaper as you get 3 meals out of it at least. However we really wanted to make some of the chicken dishes we used to (back when we weren't very MSE and would happily buy 6-8 chicken breasts a week!).

So tonight I am very very much looking forward to my home made chicken curry

That is all for now...

killerpeaty

On the old style forum they talk about rubberising chicken and making it last for 3 full family meals, that's probably something for you to look up. Something I always thought was entirely stupid (sorry this is a bit of a tangent) are student cookbooks! They say "we know you don't have a lot of money" then insist on having recipes that require 7 different veg (I LOVE veg but I never have more than 5 frozen types or 3 fresh), meat (I could only eat "meat" about 3 times a week) and about 40 different spices! No student has more than 5 spices at a push. My mum bought me this massive book about budget cooking and it was still a bit useless but at least was better than fried egg sandwiches.

I love the idea of getting your friend's daughter dressed up, it's just amazing. That's so sweet!

If you try to bag a bargain in the supermarket, maybe it would be possible for one of you to get a part time gig at one of the big ones? My mum did that when I was younger (on sundays as I remember) and it came in very useful.

Adoremouse

Hello all

I get so excited when someone replies to my diary, I'm so sad but it's nice to know that I'm not talking to myself So thank you

I didn't do very well yesterday, DD's school had a book fair and I had planned to avoid it, she is just learning to read so I do want her to have some 'older' books, but she is getting some for Christmas.

However, the bloomin school took all the kids around the book fair before home time, so that they could all pick out what they wanted!!! Talk about a hard sell...you try telling a 4 year old that although all their friends are getting the book they've spent ages picking out specially...they can't have theirs! Grrrr so cross at the school, it's only because they get a percentage of the sales :mad::mad::mad:

I thought it was pretty unfair to say no, so I let her choose one book out of the few that she wanted. Of course it was a £5.99 one rather than a £1.99 one but I will just cut back on the grocery shopping next week to make up for it.

Also, I had to buy some front line for the cats as I found a flea on one of them :eek: and I don't do fleas!! Bought it from the vets on the way home, applied to cats...then hubby came home and asked how much I paid, £21 for 3 applications (we needed 2, but that was smallest pack they had). He then informs me that I could have bought 2 individual ones at the supermarket for under a tenner. So I paid double :mad::mad::mad: So annoying when you are counting every penny! In the past I wouldn't have cared, but now I'm so much more MSE these things get to me lol!

Good news is that my youtube channel has generated some income for me, so £64 will be hitting my account at the beginning of December :j (you have to wait for it to reach £60 before they will give you a pay out). I am also over half way to £40 on One Poll, so if I can hit that target before Xmas then that will be £100 from web based stuff which is fab! :T

We had our lovely curry last night and it was so nice to eat some nice chicken! I made a baby friendly batch separately and blitzed it up and DS LOVED it nom nom nom. DD had the milder version too and thought it was yummy in her tummy (then wanted more so had some of our spicy one and loved that too!).

Got some part baked baguettes (basics ones are so so cheap and so nice!) so going to pop those in the oven and make tuna melt baguettes, as have tuna in cupboard and sweetcorn in freezer. Also got a bit of cheese that needs using up, so perfect!

I shudder when I think about how much food we used to throw away! :eek:

Did I mention that I'm making home made Xmas gifts this year? In the past I've made chutney and mincemeat, but this year I'm going for home made mustard. I have a recipe for ale and honey mustard which sounds amazing and could be given away with a bottle of the ale, especially nice if I use local ale. Could also use local honey and put a pot of that in too, but worried the cost would start mounting up...the whole point is cheap but thoughful pressies!

I'm really pleased because I've been keeping a super duper budget spreadsheet for years, literally over a decade! I would plan my budget very carefully, then completely ignore it! Then when it came to updating it, I would have to add in loads of new lines for each new transaction.

Well, for the past few weeks I've been updating it and not having to add in any new lines because all our expenditure has been planned in advance! Doesn't sound like much, but so so pleased! I think that's why I was so annoyed about book fair and vets, but other than that it's been great!

It's Friday tomorrow, woo! What are everyone's plans for the weekend? We need to do our Ebaying!

Adoremouse

Hello and hope everyone had a good weekend?

We have had a very busy and productive weekend :jdidn't spend anything either! :j:j:j

Decided to tackle a to-do pile which has been getting larger and larger for months now, stuff that's not urgent, but does need getting to. Managed to clear almost all of it!

Also took the decluttering up to a new level, decided to tackle the living room and clear every single surface (shelf/top of bookcase/top of sideboard/coffee table etc) and only put back what we really want out, and what looks good! It has made such a difference! It looks great and we have more stuff to sell!

It was such a success that we did the same in our bedroom and again, what a difference! It's so much nicer in there now, it looks so neat and tidy, and you can really appreciate the things that are there, rather than having loads of little bits of clutter everywhere.I really recommend doing this if you think your room looks a bit chaotic!

Next weekend we're going to do the same to the kitchen and bathroom, also our landing (which has a large bookcase which is a clutter magnet).

Our grocery shopping is arriving today, so won't be a NSD, have completely lost track of how many NSDs I've had so far but I know that I'm doing well! This is going to be an expensive shop though, as I have bought some little bits for DD's stocking. Also spent about £14 on bits to put in a shoebox for a child in need as DD's school are organising an appeal. I got a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, flannel, thick notebook, pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, felt tip pens, pack of coloured biros, cuddly toy, princess tiara set, pack of sweets, pack of lollipops and hair clips for that though, so not too bad! If there is still space in the shoebox after all that lot, I will tuck in a few little toys that DD doesn't play with any more. We then have to give £2.50 for the privilege of donating a shoebox! CHEEK!

It's a great lesson to teach DD though, about being privileged. This year she is going to get significantly less pressies than the last couple of years. This is the first year where she's written a list of what she wants, so I know there is going to be disappointment there, but I don't want to raise a spoilt brat so it's all good...mean Mummy :rotfl:

Still haven't put stuff on Ebay...very naughty but we were flat out all weekend! I really must must get onto it though!

killerpeaty

Good grief the school really did that? That's terrible! >.< Well, at least it was only one book. But it's great that your sprog wants to read though, are you joined with a library?

Are the cats OK? I know that my cat reacts very very badly to frontline, my mum combs her everyday instead, the cat loves it. >D

Which sites do you use to make money? I have like 30 sites ha ha.

How do you organise your decluttering? I'm really struggling, there's just SO much and I give up. ha ha.

I have news...
I HAVE A JOB! My first one! A real one! I start a week on monday! I will now be the main earner in the house (mum and sister are both part time and dad died so... not that much of an achievement lol). But I have so many plans! But now I have so much ironing to do. :rotfl: